BioInfoSummer 2016 Wrap Up

AMSI BioInfoSummer 2016 was held in November at the University of Adelaide, hosted by the School of Mathematical Sciences, with a collaborative effort in organisation from the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, Flinders University and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).

The symposium was opened by Professor Warren Bebbington (Vice‐Chancellor and President, The University of Adelaide), Leanne Harvey (A/g Chief Executive Officer, Australian Research Council) and Professor Terry Speed (Laboratory Head, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and Chair of the AMSI Scientific Advisory Committee) in the Flentje Lecture Theatre, each addressing the delegation of over 200 with an inviting welcome to the University of Adelaide, AMSI BioInfoSummer and the comprehensive bioinformatics program ahead.

The five‐day program, designed for mathematicians, statisticians and biologists, started with an introductory overview on day one followed by four days of specialised content focused on;

• high‐dimensional data and multivariate analysis
• experimental design and analysis for RNA sequencing
• programming for bioinformatics and
• analysis of long‐read (third‐generation) data.

Each day included a mix of keynote speakers, lectures and hands‐on workshop practical sessions, in addition to a variety of program extras.

“The program comprised a blend of presentations by leading national and international researchers, and hands‐on workshops on bioinformatics programming, providing unique exposure to the field of bioinformatics for delegates from a range of cognate disciplines.”
Associate Professor Gary Glonek
AMSI BioInfoSummer 2016 Event Director
The University of Adelaide

Featuring 15 national and international keynote speakers including Professor Orly Alter (University of Utah), Professor Simon Anders (Institute for Molecular Medicine, Finland), Dr Jason Chin (Pacific Biosciences), Professor Mingyao Li (University of Pennsylvania) and Professor Xia Yang (University of California, Los Angeles), the organising committee was committed to working towards gender balance throughout the event, and was delighted to have assembled a program of equal gender balance, which attracted a delegation that was similarly equal.

Additional program extras and outreach events were incorporated into the timetable to offer a number of networking and social activities for delegates to maximise their AMSI BioInfoSummer experience. A highlight and extremely popular event was the Poster Talks and Poster Session, which gave presenters the opportunity to spruik their research and share their work in the bioinformatics space with the delegation, in addition to a Women in STEM panel event, COMBINE careers session, public lecture and coding competition.

AMSI BioInfoSummer 2016 was jointly funded by the Department of Education and Training and the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, with support from The University of Adelaide, the Australian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Society (ABACBS), EMBL Australia, Illumina, Flinders University, The University of South Australia and the BHP Billiton Foundation (part of the Choose Maths Initiative).